Crumbs! Jammie Dodgers recipe change causes outrage

Burton Biscuits have announced changes to the recipe of Jammie Dodgers, but the move has upset thousands of biscuit fans.

The change comes on the heels of market research which showed customers wanted a crispier biscuit with fruitier tasting jam.

But the move has upset vegans, who will no longer be able to enjoy the snack due to the inclusion of milk protein in the new ingredients list.

Jimmy Pierce, a spokesman for the Vegan Society said: “Are they not aware of the growing numbers of vegans, dairy reducers and the lactose intolerant? Jammie Dodgers are one of many ‘accidentally vegan’ products, much loved by the vegan community.”

Anger at the recipe tweak has prompted a change.org petition and over 5500 people have signed to date.

Ali Ryland started the petition, and states: “Veganism is becoming ever more popular yet lots of previously loved ‘accidentally vegan’ items are under attack.

“The new addition of milk protein to these biscuits is bad news for vegans, those with lactose intolerance and dairy reducers everywhere, particularly those who live in rural areas and are unable to look further afield for their biscuit fix.”

She urges people to tweet about the issue, using the hashtag #SaveJammieDodgers.

A spokesperson for Burton’s Biscuit Company, said: “We have recently carried out a reformulation of our Jammie Dodgers recipe, based on consumer feedback as how best to improve the flavour and texture of the product.

For the new reformulated recipe of Jammie Dodgers, we have communicated that there is now an additional allergen of milk within the product. This is due to the addition of whey in the recipe, which gives a more rounded flavour to the biscuit.

The reformulation has resulted in the addition of milk proteins, in line with our mini Jammie Dodgers product, and is consequently now listed as an allergen in the ingredients.

On the original formulation of Jammie Dodgers, though the recipe didn’t highlight milk as an allergen, the pack did contain a statement saying ‘May contain Milk and Soya’ as it was produced on a line where other products used ingredients containing milk and was therefore not suitable for Vegans.”

We take allergen control very seriously and aim to ensure we give the correct information to customers in order to help them make the right choices.”